Posted 5 years ago on Nov. 29, 2011, 12:19 p.m. EST by ZenDogTroll
(13032)
from South Burlington, VT
This content is user submitted and not an official statement

Occupy protests have broken out all across the country, protesting issues as diverse as Wall Street itself, the Tar Sands Oil Pipeline, college tuition hikes, proposals to downsize the U.S. Postal Service, and many others. All of these issues seem separate, yet they trend in a single direction, that of social, economic, and ecological justice.

It has resulted in the appearance of chaos to those in control, creating the impression that things are spinning out of control, and so instilling fear.

This is a beautiful thing.

As a part of our multi-faceted attack upon the greed and corruption that so infects our social, economic, and political landscape, I would advocate another position we could adopt, and that is to see those fraudulent lenders involved in the sub-prime loan scandal arrested and charged with those crimes where there is ample documentation. The more I contemplate this possibility, the more I tend to like it.

This will get attention.

This will appear like chaos.

This will inspire fear among those who once thought themselves invulnerable.

You come up with the best new words, sub-prime liminal, repelicans, etc! I love that. You really need to start a dictionary on your blog. ZenSpeak! or Zen-isms? Zen-tionary. Something like that! I'll leave the title to you since you are the ZenTalk Master!

My friends make fun of me because I always mix my metaphors. Like - the sun never shines when it rains. Silly stuff. I'm a little dyslexic or something with phraseology! But when I come out with something like that - they actually write it down! Occaisonally, it turns into a drinking game (I have some strange friends)! But this is what gave me the idea for the Zen-tionary!

I'm not a big fan of chaos though. Can't we just have a nice, regular, peaceful protest in Washington?

[-]1 points
by ZenDogTroll
(13032)
from South Burlington, VT
5 years ago

Yes, you are reading me right. By finding ways to bring pressure on the establishment to enforce the law, our lack of organization and our presence en mass in public will be, to those who oppose us, like dental floss stuck between their teeth, or finger nails on a chalk board.

They will cringe. They will sweat. They will expose other forms of corruption in an effort to deflect our efforts. They will know:

Zen-Tion : The tension produced in the minds of control freaks when calm and rational minds inspire an end to that state of conditioned helplessness

We're not in Serbia, sillyDog. At least I'm not. Serbia came here. You know - we're not a "direct action" group anymore. Check the news page. We're now part of a "resistance movement". I think this is the work of those Serbian people Otpor.

I think they must be friends with the anarchists or something. Evidently if you want a revolution - these are the guys to call. I don't think they're in the yellow pages or anything like that. Maybe they have a website though. Revolutions-r-Us. haha. Or maybe they just sneak around meeting with anarchists all over the world. I don't know! You can find some youtube stuff on them.

[-]1 points
by ZenDogTroll
(13032)
from South Burlington, VT
5 years ago

I'm really not shocked by this - although I didn't expect it to be quite so blatant. That the state dept. is behind it may suggest to some persons of influence that a portion of our national security apparatus has concluded that a serious correction is in order.

If they have concluded this, then congratulations - because I was on that train a long time ago. So ultimately, I really don't care who got this train rolling, how or why. Such information is useful, no doubt, but not of primary concern.

In a way I'm a bit sorry the issue has come up - in that for many it may be distracting, and serve to undercut our momentum from within - once this train gets up some steam it will be difficult to stop.

I did like this insight from the article:

If Egypt should inspire any American participating in the Occupy Wall Street movement, it should be because it serves as a reminder to always follow the money, identify the associations between groups and personalities, name names, use logic and reason ahead of emotions, and understand exactly what your goals are and where they will lead you. More specifically, these goals must be pragmatic more than anything else. A very specific program with a timetable and enumerated means to carry it out would be a start.

[-]1 points
by ZenDogTroll
(13032)
from South Burlington, VT
5 years ago

Why should we be inspired by Egypt.

That is addressed in the quote itself, as follows:

it serves as a reminder to always follow the money, identify the associations between groups and personalities, name names, use logic and reason ahead of emotions, and understand exactly what your goals are and where they will lead you. More specifically, these goals must be pragmatic more than anything else.

As far as orchestration goes - I could speculate. I think it's been a topic you've brought up before - someone has. I don't find this kind of speculation to be all that useful really. Interesting perhaps, nerve wracking to those with vested interests that run contrary to the public interest, but in the end probably not very productive.

[-]1 points
by ZenDogTroll
(13032)
from South Burlington, VT
5 years ago

Well, the Occupy movement is committed to non-violent protest. If they want to start a shooting war they will have to form their own group, wave their own signs, march to their own drummers, and see how far they get.

Thats the strategy Otpor uses. Bring people in by saying it will be nonviolent. Of course they would say this. Who's going to join up for a "bloody violent rebellion"? That would be a very bad marketing strategy. Even in Egypt! Do you know of any revolution that didn't involve violence? But its a slippery slope. A rubber bullet, pepper spray. People get upset and more angry and it escalates.

[-]1 points
by ZenDogTroll
(13032)
from South Burlington, VT
5 years ago

If you follow the link above to sourcewatch you'll find non-violence is a part of the platform of Otpor.

I'm not worried about that - largely that is in the hands of local law enforcement - how they handle themselves will go a long way in determining whether violence actually takes place. If they behave, it leaves very little room for provocateurs to act without bringing discredit to the movement and to themselves.

I doubt the repelican party is worried. This thing will collapse before it has any real impact on them. Whatever harm comes to the repelicans will be an inside job by the slimeball Eric Cantor.

I am concerned about the people on the streets protesting who are being decieved (no leaders - bs ) and do not understand the underpinnings of this movement and the intentions of the leaders. People will be hurt when violence escalates.

Its not the repelicans getting shot with rubber bullets or pepper sprayed. Why should they care that they are funding a revolutionary group that has now set up camp on US soil. They are tucked away safely in the Capital building. So long as the money keeps flowing, they couldn't care less.

A government funded program like NASA to do research and development into robotic sex apparatuses and how they could be used interactively with the Internet and other emerging technologies. If our taxes are going to be used to research trips to the moon, they should also serve more immediate purposes.

There could also be a subdivision studying the use of blow up dolls in parks. Sure, why not? If you wish, you can head that department. Indeed.... Head that department... Well, it's time to pull out my old Asia Carrera videos...